German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble says the EU should rethink whether deeper integration of EU member states makes sense given Britain's vote to leave the union.

"In principle, I am a supporter of deeper integration," he said in Berlin on July 3. "But this is not the time."

"At a time of growing demagoguery and deep Euroskepticism, Europe cannot just carry on as before," he said.

Schaeuble's comments came after several senior EU leaders have called for a deeper integration process in response to Britain's June 23 vote to leave the 28-member bloc.

Meanwhile, two leading candidates to be the next British prime minister differed on July 3 over how urgent it is to trigger the EU Lisbon Treaty's Article 50, the formal step that would start Britain's negotiations with Brussels on the terms of its exit.

British Home Secretary Theresa May said Britain needed to be clear about its negotiating stance and she would not be rushed into triggering the article this year.

British Junior Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom said Britain needed to "make progress" toward departure. She has said she would invoke the article as quickly as possible.